Apparatus for the mechanical handling of elongate products of a rolling mill



w. UDALL 3,051,290

ANICAL HANDLING oF ELONGATE PRODUCTS oF A ROLLING MILL Aug. 28, .1962:

' APPARATUS FOR THE MECH Filed Jan. 4, l1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ella.

Aug. 28, 1962 Filed Jan. 4, 1961 W. UDALL APPARATUS FOR THE MECHANICAL HANDLING OF ELONGATE PRODUCTS OF' A ROLLING MILL 2 Sheets-511961'l 2 SSLZQ Patented Aug. 28, 11952 APPARATUS FOR MECHANICAL HANDLING OF IIJELONGATE PRODUCTS OF A ROLLING William Udall, Sheffield, England, assignor of one-half to The Brightside Foundry & Engineering Co., Limited,

Sheffield, England Filed Jan. 4, 1961, Ser. No. 80,608 Claims priority, application Great Britain Jan. 5, 1960 6 Claims. (Cl. 198-29) This invention relates -to apparatus for the mechanical handling of elongate products of a rolling mill.

An object of lthe invention is -to provide apparatus comprising a grid composed of a plurality of spaced apart side-by-side elements providing collectively a receiving surface for the step-by-step traverse therealong of elongate products in a direction transverse to IIthe axes Of said products, said grid including a rotatably driven aligning roller mounted -for rise and -fall movement into engagement with and disengagement from the elongate products for moving said products longitudinally at a stage in their step-by-step traverse along the grid and means for determining the extent of said longitudinal movement of said products.

A further object is to lprovide novel means for effecting rise and fall movement of the aligning roller by mounting said roller on the upper and free end of an oscillatable hollow arm pivotally mounted in a bearing, gearing accommodated in the pivotal end of said arm, said gearing driving a spindle extending through the oscillatable arm for carrying and rotating the aligning roller.

A still further object is to provide cam mechanism operable upon the arm externally thereof for effecting the oscillation thereof.

These and other objects will be apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation partly in section of a mechanical handling apparatus for delivering hot rolled bars from a rolling mill on to a cooling bed.

FIGURE 2 shows a part plan view of the apparatus of FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawings, the apparatus comprises an inclined platform or -grid A having a plurality of laterally spaced apart stationary elements 1, each of which is provided with a series of inclined surfaces, for example, three inclined surfaces 2, 3 and 4 which extend between an upper feed table B and a cooling bed C.

The lower end of the inclined surface 2 of an element is connected Ito the upper end of the inclined surface 3 of the ysame element by means of an upwardly directed step 8, and similarly the lower end of the inclined `surface 3 of said element is connected -to the upper end of the inclined surface 4 thereof by means of the upwardly directed step 9, these steps 8 and 9 constituting a first and a second -station respectively on each element for receiving temporarily the hot rolled bars as they descend from the feed table B.

Lifting means for the hot rolled bars comprising two lifting plungers 10 and 11 are coupled by means of the connecting rods 12 and 13 Ito an oscillat-able member 14 rotatably mounted on a shaft 15. The plungers 10 and 11 have upper faces 16 and 17 respectively which are inclined so that when a plunger is in its upper position the upper face forms a run off surface to allow a hot rolled bar to run off the plunger on to the upper end of the adjacent inclined surface.

The apparatus also includes an aligning means in the form of ra rotatably driven roller 18 mounted at the upper end of an oscillatable arm 19 which is itself pivotally mounted at its lower end in a bearing 20 beneath the elements 1. The arm 19 can firstly be pivoted upwardly to bring the driven roller 18 in-to engagement with lthe underside of a hot rolled bar located at the second station and then pivoted downwardly to disengage the roller 18 from said hot rolled bar. This pivoted movement is controlled by a cam action compri-sing a roller 21 .mounted on a lug 22 on the lower `centre portion of the arm 19 so as to ride on a cam 23 eccentrically mounted on a bearing 24. The driven roller 18 is rigidily mounted on a driving spindle 2S which extends longitudinally through .the arm 19 and is driven from `a shaft 26 by a bevel or other suitable gearing 27 associated with the pivoted mounting ofthe arm 19.

It is to be understood that the platform or grid can Ihave a set of laterally spaced side-by-side elements 1 and that a plurality of pairs 4of lifting plungers and a plurality of oscillatable roller carrying arms are likewise provided for operation in some or all of the spaces between adjacent elements.

In .the operation of the apparatus, hot rolled bars arrive in succession lfrom lthe rolling mill on to the upper feed ytable B, these bars then being swept off said .table so that they can run down the set of upper inclined surfaces 2 to arrive in succession at the first station. The lifting plungers 10 thus operate to lift the hot bars on to the upper end of the next set of inclined surfaces 3 so that these bars can mn down to ythe second station where they are engaged by the rotatably driven roller 18 of the aligning means; .the oscillatable arm 19 and roller 18 operating to move the hot bars axially along the second station so that the one ends of said bars abut a stop member 28 provided for the purpose on the grid A. The oscillatable arm 19 then pivots downwardly to disengage the roller 18 from the hot bars, whereupon the lifting plunger 11 rises to lift said bars on to the upper ends of the set `of lowest inclined surfaces from Which said bars run down on to Ithe cooling bed C. The lifting plungers 10 and 11 are controlled by the oscillatable member 14 so that as the plunger 11 at the second station falls, the plunger 10 at the first station rises again for the above described operation Ito be repeated on successive hot rolled bars arriving down the set of inclined surfaces 2. In addition, the aligning means is controlled by the gearing 27 and cam 23 so that a hot rolled bar arriving at the second station is firstly moved axially into alignment by the roller 13 and then raised on to the upper end of the inclined surface 4 by the lifting plunger 11.

The stop member 28 is provided with Ia handle 29 and with two legs 30 lfor removable itment into apertures 31 therefor at the second station of the inclined surfaces, these apertures being provided at intervals in said -surfaces for receiving the stop member 2S as required according to the length of the hot rolled bars being deal-t with.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for the mechanical handling of elongate produots of a rolling mill comprising a grid composed of a plurality of spaced apart side-by-side elements providing collectively a receiving surface for :the step-by-step traverse therealong of the elongate products in a direction transverse to the axes of said products, an oscillatable lhollow arm pivotally mounted in a bearing below the -grid and extending upwardly and inclinedly towards said grid, a spindle extending through said arm carrying and driving an aligning roller mounted thereon 'beyond the limits of the upper end of the oscillatable arm, driven gearing accommodated in the pivotal mounting ofthe oscillatable hollow larm for driving the spindle, and means yfor oscillating said arm.

2. Apparatus for the mechanical handling of elongate products of a rolling mill comprising a grid composed of a plurality of spaced apart side-'by-side elements providing collectively a receiving surface for the step-by-step traverse therealong -of the elongate products in a direction transverse to the axes of said products, an oscillatable hollow arm pivotally mounted in a bearing below the grid and extending upwardly and inclinedly towards said grid, a spindle extending through said arm carrying and driving `an aligning roller mounted thereon beyond the limits of the upper end of the oscillatable arm, driven Igearing accommodated in the -pivotal mounting of the `oscillatalble hollow arm for driving the spindle, and means for oscillating said arm, said means cornprising cam mechanism operable upon the arm.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the oscillatable arm is provided with lug carrying a roller Iin riding engagement with the periphery of an eccentrically mounted cam.

4. Apparatus for the mechanical handling of elongate products comprising -a base, a platform on said base having at least 4one element provided with .a series of inclined surfaces extending between an upper feed table and a lowel receiving table `for the descent of said products lat yright angles to their length in sequence along said inclined -surfaces to convey the products from the feed table to the receiving table, two upwardly direct-ed steps each extending from the lower end of a preceding inclined surface of the series to the upper end of the adjacent succeeding inclined surface to -forrn a rst and a second station respectively for the temporary reception of products in their descent, lifting means at each station for raising a product from each one of said stations for descent therefrom along a succeeding inclined surface,

mechanism coupling .said lifting means -so that as the lifting means at one station is raised the lifting means at the other station is lowered, aligning means to effect longitudinal movement of a product at said second station, stop meansV 4associated with said -second station, and means for operating said aligning means when the lifting means at said second station is in its lowered position to move a product longitudinally at said second station against -said .stop means, said aligning means comprising au oscillatable arm .pivotally mounted by one end on said base below said platform, a roller rotatably mounted on the free end of said arm, an aperture in said platform at said second station, lmeans for oscillating said arm to cause said roller to project through said aperture, and means for driving said roller to move a product in conltact therewith towards said Vstop means when said roller is projected through said aperture.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 in which said oscill-atable arm is hollow and said roller is driven by a driving spindle running through the hollow oscillatable arm.

6. Apparatus according to claim 6 in which said d-riving spindle is driven by right angle gearing concentric with the pivotal mounting of the oscillatafble arm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,765,896 Peterson Oct. 9, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,106,483 lFrance Dec. 19, 1955 1,028,066 Germany Apr. 17, 1958 

